A Star-Crossed Golden Age. Myth and the Spanish Comedia (review)

A Star-Crossed Golden Age. Myth and the Spanish Comedia. Edited by Frederick A. de Armas. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1998. 247 pp.

It is surprising in this day and age to come across a collection of critical essays on the comedia (or any other literary subject for that matter) that makes little or no reference to post-modernism, post-colonialism, feminism, neohistoricism or queer theory. And yet, this new anthology edited by Frederick de Armas manages to be engaging and timely despite the absence of fashionable theoretical jargon. A Star-Crossed Golden Age is a collection that addresses the multifarious ways in which mythology was used in the comedia of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Spain. The essays, which had their origin in an NEH Institute held at Penn State in 1994, represent at first glance an unapologetic return to the type of myth criticism that was practiced some decades ago. Nevertheless, there is nothing old-fashioned or anti-theoretical in the volume. On the contrary, this is a solid collection of essays that provides new insights on the dramatic practice of the Spanish Golden Age. While each author maintains his or her individual voice, there is a cohesiveness of the essays that goes beyond its thematic preoccupation with myth. As a whole, this coherence is a testament to the success of the Institute where the essays originated and a tribute to its guiding "star," Frederick de Armas, whose work is the clear inspiration behind this project.

The anthology is divided into three main sections: 1) "The Physical Tradition" which refers to the connection of astral bodies and the four elements with the ancient gods, and also to the use of divination and cartomancy; 2) "The Metamorphic Tradition" which deals with various myths of transformation and with the connections between myth and hagiography; 3) "Representations of the Goddess" where the correspondences between comedia characters and pagan goddess are examined; and finally, 4) "The Gods of Calderón" which analyzes the playwright's incorporation of myth in the spectacle plays, courtly metaphysical drama, and the auto sacramental.

The quality of the articles ranges from good to excellent, and the high standard is established by the very first essay written by de Armas himself. With his great erudition and eye to detail, de Armas provides a paradigm for the suggestive ways in which myth can be used to elucidate the art of the comedia. The article, on the symbolism of the four elements in Las aceitunas by Lope de Rueda, leaves the reader in awe of de Armas's ability to tease out layers of meaning out of overlooked details in this entremés. The first section also includes a fascinating study by Ronald J. Friis (who co-wrote the introduction) on the use of the tarot in Europe and Spain. Specifically, he examines in detail the multi-layered symbolism (alchemy, astrology, and numerology) of the tarot as it appears in Cervantes's Numancia. This article builds on de Armas's recent work on the influence of Italy's visual culture on Cervantes's oeuvre. Perhaps the most daring idea in the article is that the traditional method of reading the tarot provides an interpretative framework for reading the necromancy scene in the second act of Cervantes's play. The other two articles in this first section--Francisco Martin's article on the presence of the four elements in Tirso's El burlador de Sevilla and Carolyn Nadeau's study of astrology in Alarcón's La verdad sospechosa--are also well-written and interesting. Nevertheless, perhaps because these authors are dealing with canonical plays that have generated centuries of criticism, their articles seem less original than the first two, more a recasting of familiar themes within a new context.

One of the pleasures afforded by this collection is the opportunity to read about playwrights and plays that have for the most part been neglected by...